I’m steeped in the Lion King mythos, so that’s why my wife, daughter, and I saw the Mufasa movie at the Spectrum Theatre in mid-January. My wife and I saw the original 1994 animated film, as did our daughter subsequently. The musical production at Proctor’s Theater in Schenectady, which my wife and I saw twice, once with our daughter. The daughter was in the production at church. I saw a junior high school production, and I suspect there’s another. But I didn’t see the 2019 live-action film.
The reviews for Mufasa have been mixed, with only 56% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. A positive review: “A remake of ‘The Lion King’ was an unnecessary move from a cinematic point of view, but a masterstroke from a business point of view.”
A couple of negative takes: It “would have been perfect if its characters had fewer lines, and if the songs were in the background rather than emerging through the mouths of clearly computer-generated figures.” “The songs fall flat, the story is basic, and the movie falls for all of the prequel tropes we’ve grown tired of.”
Profitable
I agree with all of that. It is a Disney money grab, for sure, and a successful one at that. While the animals were rendered wonderfully, it was a bit difficult to distinguish some of them, particularly the lions.
Watching them sing was a bit distracting. Some of the songs were exceptionally cutesy. Although I had forgotten he was involved, a few, in particular Bye Bye, immediately sounded like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s signature style. Interestingly, listening to them without watching the action was less distracting.
We were surprised that the film suggested, albeit off-screen, incredible violence as the vultures headed towards what had to have been a killing field.
But I think the film got better as it centers on five characters, three lions and two others. There was an interesting lesson at the end, which I suspect some people will think is a bit too “woke” for their taste, but which I thought was true. By the end of the movie, I’d given into the storyline.
I got enough out of it that it wasn’t a waste of my time, but your experience may differ.